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<title>Random Flashes of Brilliance (and Mediocrity) by Lightning Strikes Multi (Yimin)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26388049">Random Flashes of Brilliance (and Mediocrity)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yimin/pseuds/Lightning%20Strikes%20Multi'>Lightning Strikes Multi (Yimin)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Poems, Poetry, Real Life, Short Stories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:27:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>660</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26388049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yimin/pseuds/Lightning%20Strikes%20Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>These are fun poems and short stories I write.</p>
<p>Bite-sized pieces to consume. Please let me know if there’s something you’d like to see!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Yummy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Don’t eat that (again)!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Flavor bursts across the tongue.<br/>
Creamy decadence.<br/>
Vanilla with a hint of ripest strawberries.<br/>
Soft and smooth.<br/>
A buttery glide down. </p><p>Nope, not gonna eat my lip balm again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Warm Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A warm case. A scuttling visitor.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A fan steadily moves in the background, the faint and calming sign of home. Light shines across the matte surface, evoking the inky depths of knowledge contained therein. Lighting scuttles about on copper highways, moving to and fro with purpose. Work to do, places to be. She surveys all, and hums contentedly to find all is well. </p><p>Another crawls towards the warmth, seeking a home, a family. The silver floor is too cold, the  multicolored ropes are too uncomfortably thin and sway slightly with the movement of her stamping feet. The dearth of light hides her glistening covering, a jewel hidden in a warm and secure cave of mysteries. She seeks shelter, for her and hers. </p><p>The fan whirls mechanically, doing its job with no regard for the feelings of the visitor. The visitor avoids the energetic stranger, with all due prudence. She steers towards the warm and dry insides, under the coated strands, into the deep recesses of this modern cavern. Finally, the perfect place to birth her brood. Warm, dry, and dark. Nice and safe. Ahhhhh.</p><p>The first party notices the irregularity, but says nothing. Nothing to see, move along. Until, one day, something goes wrong. A connection is made, but is not made. The lightning is too strong, but not strong enough. Error. Error. Error.</p><p>Retry. Abort. Error. Error. Error.</p><p>A large primate evaluates the situation. “Honey, there’s bugs in our computer!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Computer bug or real bug?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. One thought flashes across her mind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bad Michaels!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As she lounges on the sleeping surface in her bedchambers, enjoying a lovely YouTube tutorial with a sketchbook and her big “metal” briefcase of art supplies, specks of red and black dance across the page and onto the mattress. ‘Twas laundry day, so the bare mattress received a colorful sprinkle of forever-stains. One thought permeates as she attempts to rid her hands of the unexpected confetti: I don’t think these are really oil pastels.</p><p>In fact, I’m pretty sure these are just highly pigmented wax crayons with a distressingly high incidence of flaking. My briefcase of art supplies lied to me! Bad Michaels! </p><p>What else have you lied about?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Michaels is an arts and crafts supplies store, and sells “briefcases” filled with art supplies for kids under their own house brand. The quality is hit or miss, but the form factor is truly gorgeous. This is a true story, and created so much angst I just had to write about it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Try, try again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Progress is frustrating.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I want to be good like them.</p><p>I want to be skilled like them.</p><p>Why is what I make so terrible? Lopsided and uneven, too pale here and too gloopy there. </p><p>My paper buckles, my canvas flops. My paint runs, my pencils scratch. My pen skips across the page and spatters white and beige alike with dark stains, a testament to my pain. </p><p>I dabble in all, but have perfected none. Yet still I try, because to gain perfection one must try, try, and try again. Failure was always in the cards. </p><p>It’s okay to fail, because in failing we learn and grow. And yet, my stained fingers are the crime scene of my education. One day, though, they will be the badge of honor at my grand unveiling. </p><p>Until then, let us revel in the chaos.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I dabble in art and writing. The “them” are people who are good. </p><p>You probably can relate, we all have something we wish we were better at.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Cat in the Hat (an homage to a cat sleeping inside a hat)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This is in reference to a photo on Reddit of a white cat sleeping inside a straw hat. It Is the most adorable thing ever! Please enjoy this slice of daily life for the cat in the hat. Poetry.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The cat in the hat took a deep nap.  <br/>The cat in the hat owned a handsome sap.  <br/>Purr, purr, purr goes the cat in a fussy mood,  <br/>Whirr, whirr, whirr goes the opener of the food.  </p>
<p>He stretches and claws,  <br/>He beckons and calls.   <br/>His human pet arrives faster,  <br/>To pet his demanding feline master.  </p>
<p>Meow, the cat in the hat commands,  <br/>Here comes the warm petting hands.  <br/>“Kitty, kitty, kitty”,  <br/>Purr, purr, purr.  <br/>Watch out for the claws!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. More kitten poems</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Haikus and other stuff. I like cats</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In honor of r/catsareliquid - haikus:</p><p>Kitten oh fluffy<br/>
One that pours into vases<br/>
Come out for your meal.</p><p>Liquid like kitty<br/>
Poured gently into a jar<br/>
Come and play with me!</p><p> </p><p>Other poetry: </p><p>Such cuddly and soft<br/>
Fur, fur, fur<br/>
Give you a stroke,<br/>
Purr, purr, purr.</p><p>I love my adoring human pet,<br/>
That holds me right<br/>
and feeds me often,<br/>
Praising me as I sleep in the light.</p>
  </div></div>
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